It’s been a busy time for Animotive who announced two new exciting capabilities in their real-time VR virtual production platform for game developers, educators, and creators.

First they introduced AI Legs, a new full-body motion capture breakthrough. This is AI-Enhanced VR Tracking, using only a VR headset and two controllers - no suits, no trackers, no cameras, no long calibration cycles.

“Step in, perform, and let our AI predict and reconstruct natural motion from just three tracked points. Faster pipelines, dynamic character performances, cinematics, and hands-on virtual production for students. Developed in collaboration with Ulster University, Abertay University, and the NVIDIA Inception program.”

Second, they’ve announced full Vicon support – “bringing industry-leading mocap hardware directly into the Animotive workflow”

Sam del Greco is a vastly experienced Senior Researcher (XR - Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality), XR lead at IMR (Irish Manufacturing Research, a member of Eirmersive), who founded IMR’s XR department ~8 years ago. During those years he has delivered demos to thousands of people and scoped 70+ projects, including the completion of 7 multi-company XR projects with ~35 companies. IMR is hardware-agnostic and focuses is on best-fit solutions in terms of devices. It works at mid-level TRL (3–6), focusing on implementation challenges rather than off-the-shelf solutions.

At PRISM '25 Sam spoke about 'Why XR projects fail or stall (“Pilot Purgatory”) - Barriers between inception and implementation, and why projects often die after the pilot phase".

You can watch the full presentation…

Thierry Jourquin is CEO at XRintelligence and a board member at both XR4Europe and Stereopsia Europe. He’s on a mission to accelerate XR technology adoption in Belgium through strategic pillars aligned with EU directives (S3). At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about XR Rapid Prototyping and how it powers AI by Design. In other words, XR and AI are no longer separate but projects now combine XR and AI.

Key Takeaways:
- Rapid prototyping is the best way to engage companies and start innovation journeys.
- XR + AI is now inseparable for future projects. “XR crates the world - AI gives it meaning”
- Adoption requires time, education, and incremental steps.
- Content creation is more critical than hardware—devices will evolve, but immersive content remains central.

Watch the full presentation…

Kevin Doherty is the User Experience & Immersive Technologist at the Digital Twin Centre, Belfast where the goal is to increase adoption of digital twins and explore their integration with immersive technology. At PRISM ‘25 he cited the following Immersive Tech Examples:

• Design Phase: Rapid prototyping with real-world data (e.g., Siemens NX, World Builder).

• Training Scenarios: Flight simulators (Varjo XR), sustainable forestry training.

• Contextualised Data: In-situ dashboards and control interfaces.

• “What If” Analysis: Simulating scenarios for optimisation.

• Storytelling: Using immersive tech to communicate complex processes.

Sue McGuire is Senior Strategic Partnership Manager at Digital Catapult and Barry Kennedy is CEO at Irish Manufacturing Research (a member of Eirmersive). At PRISM ‘25 they joined Mark Sage, Executive Director at the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance, for a panel discussion to explore how XR (Extended Reality – VR/AR/MR) is solving operational challenges in Manufacturing, the gaps holding back adoption, and what the future might look like.

Shared Insights:
- COVID accelerated XR adoption, but momentum slowed post-pandemic.
- Change management is as important as technology—engage end users early.
- XR success depends on solving real business problems, not just showcasing tech.
- Expect more accessible tools, better ergonomics, and integration with enterprise

Watch the full discussion…

Andrew O’Mullane is Senior Executive Engineer for Active Travel at South Dublin County Council where he’s also Programme Manager for Active Travel Infrastructure Projects. At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about the Council’s use of Virtual Reality to Enhance Public Engagement in Civil Projects.

Challenges
- Planning Process:
--- Complex and often met with public apprehension.
--- Requires public consultation under Part 8 of Planning and Development Regulations.
- Communication Issues:
--- Traditional drawings are hard for non-technical stakeholders to interpret.
--- Councillors struggle to explain plans to constituents.

Learn why Virtual Reality provided the innovative solution…

John Cassidy is Area Manager Training Services at Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about "Enhancing Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Skills through [VR] Simulation".

The Training Challenges outlined by John were:

- Traditional approach: integrated learning (practical + theory) and experiential learning are essential for apprentices.

- Physical training requires:
--- Access to specific building structures (e.g., cavity walls, stone walls, block builds).
--- Significant resources and time.
--- All trainees must attend the training centre.
- Difficult to replicate real-world conditions repeatedly.

The Solution was Virtual Reality (VR)…

At PRISM ‘25, Dr. Aoife Morrin, Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at DCU, spoke about the how they’re using VR for Chemistry Education with the Immersive Chem Lab Project (which is a collaboration with Eirmersive member Fourth Reality). The following is a summary of the presentation which can been watched in full below.

VR USE CASE:
Prepare students before physical labs:
— Familiarise with instruments and software.
— Increase efficiency and confidence.
— Enable deeper, inquiry-based learning during actual lab sessions.
VR environment replicates real lab setup & allows:
— Interaction with instruments as in real life.
— Performing sample analysis and generating real-time data.
— Visualising internal mechanics of instruments.